A Sailor Story
by Tatertotrocks
Summary: Serena is just entering high school with her best friend, ready for all the cute boys and dramatic events...or so she thinks. Her and Molly have NO classes together, and Serena fears that this year will turn out badly when she accidentally runs into the 'popular's' from middle school. But when she meets new friends and discovers some crazy powers, things start to look up.
1. Meatball Head

**_AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hey guys this is my first fanfiction…just got an account and still figuring out how it works and stuff. So yeah, tell me what you think. I'd really appreciate it if you gave a review so I can know in some way if I should keep writing how I am…but you know, whatevs. _**

**_This is the first chapter and I have to admit it is kinda boring haha…but bear with me, I promise it will get more exciting. I just find it hard to start something off, but once I get going it should be better. Just introducing the storyline and stuff here. Let me know what you think? Maybe?_**

_Chapter 1_

"It's so hot outside today," Serena complained, "Couldn't we stop for ice-cream somewhere?"

Serena's stomach rumbled as she saw a little kid licking a strawberry cone. She continued walking regretfully. He looked like a nice kid, surely he would have let her have some…

"Serena, I thought we agreed to cut down on the sweets as one of our high school resolutions!" Molly reprimanded her.

"But we're not technically in high school yet, there's still like, four weeks left of summer."

"Yeah but we should start now so that we can get used to it by the time school starts, besides, we're going to the mall right, now like we've been planning since school ended. You keep putting it off."

"Yeah, but that's because there's all this good food there that you never let me get…so I have to stay away."

"But you said you wanted to do some school shopping and pick out a new wardrobe. All the stores have been getting in cute new clothes and I really can't wait any longer."

"Wait, what?" Serena stopped in her tracks, "Cute clothes?! Why didn't you say so in the first place! We could have gone there like a month ago."

Up ahead Molly spotted the red brick of the mall's west wing.

"I did tell you Serena, when we had that sleepover remember? We had just watched that cheesy romance movie and we were talking about how we didn't have anything to do during summer."

"What? I don't remember any talking after that movie. Actually, I don't remember ever finishing the movie. Did she end up with the pop star?"

"You fell asleep before the movie even ended? It was only nine o'clock!"

"Yeah well I was tired from chasing Rini around all day. She stole the cupcake Mom made for me and wouldn't give it back. Besides, it is called a 'sleepover' right?"

Molly was about to open her mouth in protest to the words' actual definition versus its inferred meaning , but Serena cut her off, changing the subject.

"So? Did she end up with the famous guy? He was a hunk."

"No Serena, I thought that was obvious from the start. She ends up with the really sweet red haired guy that's been her best friend for seven years."

"What?! Why the heck did she pick him? The pop star was so much cooler."

"That was the point, she didn't care about money or fame, she wanted to be with the guy who made her happy. The other guy turned out to be a jerk anyways."

Serena sat there with a blank expression on her face, affirming that she didn't get it at all. They had approached the doors to the west wing and walked in, the automatic doors sliding open on their own. They had just passed through when Molly heard a shriek from Serena behind her. Looking back, she saw Serena sprawled out on the floor, her blond hair caught in the door as it slid closed. Molly shook her head and bit back a laugh as she helped Serena up. A few people looked over as Serena continued to whine about how 'she never did anything to those doors, what kind of automatic door shuts on you anyways.'

Molly tuned her out and pulled her along again, "You really should cut your hair Serena."

"…seriously, someone should at least put a sign there to warn people. You know, I should get paid in free sweets or something. I feel so victimized…" It slowly registered on her face as she picked up what Molly had said.

"Cut my hair?! Are you crazy? We've had this conversation like a million times and I _told _you I'm _never _cutting it."

"Well, it always gets in the way, so you should do something with it in any case."

"I've tried different hairstyles, but the only ones I can do are ponytails and kids always grab onto them and pretend I'm a horse or something. Plus, a regular pony tail is so boring, everyone does that."

Molly laughed at Serena's exclusivity. Suddenly she spotted a sign, "Hey, it looks like it's fate. That shop over there says they're doing free makeovers! Let's go check it out!"

"A makeover, huh? Well I love free stuff. Let's go," Serena started walking and looked around, "Whoa, Molly, have you noticed all the cute boys here? It's like they all decided to gather together today just to see me. Let's go talk to them!"

Molly rolled her eyes, "Focus Serena. We just said we were gonna go get makeovers right? We can talk to guys later."

"Jeez Mol , I thought you liked flirting with guys. You can't deprive them of your feminine charmingness. I mean, ever since your last boyfriend dumped you…"

Serena trailed off as she realized what she'd say, "Sorry! Sorry! I didn't mean it like that-"

"It's okay Serena," Molly rolled her eyes again, "Let's just go get our makeovers, and _then_ we can talk to the guys."

Serena grinned and clapped her hands. "Great! Let's go get all prettied up!"

* * *

"So, what would you like done today?" asked a woman dressed in a green dress and apron as she sat Serena down in a swivel chair. Molly was seated in a chair next to her, and her artist asked her something similar.

"I'm up for anything today. Just surprise me with something," said Molly. Serena turned to her, grabbing her arm.

"Molly what should I get? I don't know anything about hairstyles."

Molly turned to Serena's stylist, "She needs something to get her hair out of the way. As you can see, it's pretty long. She told me she's tried pony tails and stuff, but nothings worked so far. She doesn't really have enough skills for braiding"- this earned her a glare from Serena-"So she needs something simple but manageable."

"I want something new to do since we're going into high school this year," Serena added, just so she didn't sound like a total ditz.

"Ah, high school. Those were the best years," said the woman now brushing out Molly's hair.

Serena's stylist turned Serena to face the mirror, "I think I have something that just might be perfect."

The stylist brushed our Serena's long hair and then proceeded to put it into two high pig-tails. Molly glanced over and laughed, "Wow Serena, it's just like when I first met you."

Serena glanced at the stylist in the mirror, "Ah, no offense but I was kind of going for something not as kiddish."

"Don't worry," said the woman, winking, "I'm not finished yet."

Serena watched as her hair was taken up and wrapped around each pigtail base, creating little puff ball shapes while leaving the majority of her hair still hanging down along her back.

"There," said the lady, "simple, but stylish."

The other woman looked over and grinned; Molly glanced and then did a double take. Serena stared in the mirror. It was different than anything she had ever seen before, with a hint of her childhood memories. And weirdly enough… she liked it.

"Wow Serena, that looks great!" Molly commented, "And I don't think that look would work for anyone else, but it does for you. How did you think of that?" Molly directed her last question at the stylist.

"Well, I had this idea for a while, but I knew it wouldn't work for just anyone. So this is the first time I've tried it. It works great with your hair, Serena."

The other stylist nodded, saying, "I have to say Jean- I'm impressed. Most of your ideas are unique, but this one turned out fantastic."

A few other stylists were called over and admired Serena's hair:

"Even with the buns, her hair is still so long."

"That's so cool Jean."

"I'd guess she's fourteen or fifteen, right?"

Serena nodded and Jean replied, "Well, they mentioned they were freshman, and I have to say I took them for a little older than that. This hairstyle tones it down a little so that she looks almost exactly her age. I think it's important to own your age."

After a few more 'ooh's' and 'ahh's' from various stylists, along with a little brush up on their makeup, Serena and Molly said thank you and headed out the doors they had first come in.

"I really think your hair is something amazing. And it's totally you. Perfect for a new school year, "Molly said.

"Yeah, if I can re-create it later. I was surprised too, thanks. I think they did a good job on your hair as well."

"Thanks, I like it. I think I might start straightening it like this if it doesn't take too long."

They both grinned at their new appearances and waved at a few boys as they passed by. The boys chuckled and Molly leaned over to Serena.

"I think they were seniors."

"How can you tell?"

"I don't know, just the way they reacted I guess. Hey! There's Django's, let's go check out the clothes there."

For the next two hours, Serena and Molly went through almost every clothing store in the west wing and tried on too many outfits to count. People would glance at the two girls and smile as they saw their youthful enthusiasm and Serena's hair. With their arms full of bags of new clothes, Serena and Molly walked out of the last store. Molly realized she'd forgotten to buy a pair of cute sandals she had seen, and told Serena to meet her at Benny's Ice-cream shop in the food court. Serena happily obliged and Molly handed Serena her bags.

Now with her arms _really_ full Serena began to prance towards the food court. As she speedily walked there and looked through one of the bags to find a Sailor V key chain she had bought, she ran into someone. Knocked off balance by an object moving at least as fast as she was, she went sprawling. Bags flew across the floor, clothes slipping out, and Serena landed hard on her backside. She yelped and then looked up to see a teenage boy standing in front of her and looking down at her. He had dark hair that swept across his forehead, a blue glare had settled on it from the mall ceiling's fluorescent lights. He had dark blue eyes and stared at her with an unreadable but distinctly surprised expression.

_Wow, what a hunk._ She thought, and realized her mouth was still open from her previous shout.

"Walk much, meatball head?" He said. He then stepped around her and walked off. Serena sat there, stunned. Quickly, she stood up and brushed herself off, then turned around to glare at his back as he strutted away.

"Jerk!" She called out after him, and thought she saw his shoulders shake slightly in laughter. Just then Molly came up to her, grinning and holding up a bag. She looked Serena up and down, taking in her disheveled appearance.

"Serena, what happened? Where are the bags-"She then saw them scattered across the walkway and repeated her first question.

Serena stormed over to where one of the bags was lying bunched up on the floor while relating the tale to Molly. Molly's jaw dropped, and then said something about how some guys were dropped on their heads as babies and he must be one of them.

Serena was soon brought out of her gloomy mood at the mention of Ice-cream, and by the end of the day had all but forgotten the encounter.

She stood in her room after getting home around five, her new clothes all spread out on the bed. Her seven year old sister Rini walked in without knocking and ran over to jump on the bed when she saw the clothes. Serena let out an Indian cry and grabbed Rini in mid leap. Turning her towards the door she said, "Oh no you don't you little squirt."

Rini tried to peak around her, "Hey when'd you get those clothes? How come you get new clothes and I don't? I wanna see," she whined.

Serena moved over a bit, blocking her view.

"Where do you think I was all day? And anyway, I bought this with my own hard earned money, that's howcome."

"You were gone all day? I didn't even notice," Serena glared at her, "And by hard earned money do you mean trying to take care of Mrs. Ferris' plants while she was gone and completely killing them?"

Serena growled, "It's not my fault the sun's so hot. Now get out of my room you little brat."

Rini shrugged and ran out the door, "Mooom! Serena called me a brat!"

Serena sighed and then Rini peaked her head back through the door, "By the way, Mom told me to get you for dinner."

"OUT!"

Rini disappeared again and Serena sighed. Her little sister was always being annoying, ruining her good mood. Ah well, it couldn't be helped now. She headed downstairs to the kitchen table where her parents were setting the food. Rini ran past Serena from behind her, knocking her into the wall slightly.

"Rini!" She shrieked. Then Sammy walked up and slid past her as well, seating himself at the table and saying,

"Sheesh Serena, calm down a little."

Sammy was about two years younger than her and in the seventh grade this year. And he was two mature for his own good.

"Sammy, you know how Serena is. And Serena, you don't need to react so loudly," her mom said, "And RIni, you know it's not polite to push people, so I need you to apologize."

"But I didn't push-"

"Just say you're sorry."

"Fine," Rini said, crossing her arms, "I'm sorry," she said to Serena, folding her hands under her chin and batting her eyelashes. Their mom turned away, satisfied, and Rini stuck her tongue out at Serena. Serena copied her and sat down across the table. Her mom brought in a steaming pot of Chicken Noodle Soup and Serena's mouth watered.

"Yum Mom, it smells scrumdily umpshis!" She then proceeded to slurp down four bowl full's before staggering off to her room and passing out on her bed. On the way she heard Rini talking to her mom.

"Serena's going to get so fat from stuffing her face like that."

"Rini, you know she's a growing girl. And her metabolism is off the charts so I doubt she'll start gaining any weight anytime soon."

Serena resisted the urge to shout a snide comment back and continued up the stairs. As she lay down on her bed, she thought_, Man, I didn't know you could actually shop 'til you drop. Well I guess I also didn't know that total hunks could be full-blown jerks. Meatball head? Ugh… _

Serena drifted off and began to snore softly, dreaming of chocolate bunt cake.

_ **So there ya go. Let me know. Hey that 's a rhyme…I just aint got no time…okay I'm done haha. Seeya.**_


	2. Sailor V

_Chapter 2_

Mireena looked at her watch again. _7:15. Just enough time to get to my locker and run to class. I'm glad I got my schedule online, the common room's gonna be packed today, _she thought.Even though it was the first day of school, Mireena didn't really feel the need to be early. It was just another year of high school- not a big deal like last year. She didn't really feel like spending too much time with all of the freshman, trying to get in line and wait for her schedule. Luckily she only lived about five minutes walk from the school, enabling her to get to school at whatever time she wanted, really.

It was nice to be outside, with the sunny temperature of summer still in the air. Perfect weather to start out a new volleyball season. Maybe coach would let them practice outside.

As she walked along, she noticed a little boy across the street, dutifully entranced in some sort of magazine. She squinted. _Sailor V_. Mireena smiled to herself, remembering when she used to read Sailor V back in elementary school. As she was lost in thought, still gazing in the little boys' direction, a truck turned down the street she was walking along. The little boy didn't seem to notice, and began to cross the street, still absorbed in the magazine. _He'll move_, she thought to herself. But as she watched he only continued to walk slowly across the lane. Mireena started to panic as the truck drew closer. It wasn't slowing down. Didn't it see the kid?

In an instant, she dropped her bag and ran toward him, but the truck was picking up too much speed_. I'm not gonna make it_, she realized, terrified. _I'm not gonna make it, but he's going to die! _All rational thought leaving her head, Mireena took one last leap off the curb and squeezed her eyes shut_. No! I have to save this boy!_

A light flashed behind her eyes, and she prepared for impact. Suddenly, she felt herself suspended in the air, as if time had frozen. Then the air around her began to spin as she found herself right side up. She opened her eyes to see that she was no longer in the middle of the street, but had somehow made it over to the sidewalk. She stood there, stunned, confused and what had just happened.

"Hey, let go of me," Mireena heard a muffled voice say. Startled, she looked down and saw the little boy held fast against her. She released her grip and took a step back.

"Sheesh, you didn't have to hold so tight," he said, and looked up at her. A strange realization entered his eyes, "Hey! It's you! You saved me! I got saved by Sailor V!"

Mireena looked around before she become conscious of the fact that he was looking straight at her. She turned and saw the truck still driving unfazed a safe distance down the road. She looked back at the boy, who was looking at her as if he might wet his pants. She looked back at the road. At the boy. At the road again.

_ Wait- she had saved him?_

_But how? He wasn't in my reach when I dived out in front of the truck. And what was this kid saying about Sailor V? What did she have to do with this?_

"Cool! A golden chain! Do I get to keep this?" Mireena looked back at the boy and saw that he was holding a thin gold chain with heart shaped links. Before both of their eyes, it began to fade off, leaving a trail of sparkly dust.

"Aww…man!" Protested the kid, "Do you have any more? I need proof when I tell my friends I got saved by Sailor V."

There it was again. _Sailor V. What is going on? Oh no, I've completely lost it._

Not really knowing what to do, and certainly not thinking rationally, Mireena took off down a nearby street, leaving that kid yelling after her. Taking random turns for what seemed like endless minutes, she finally arrived back at her house. Her mom's car wasn't in the driveway, which meant she had already left for her work at the hospital. She grabbed the key from behind the house light, and ran inside, leaving the door still slightly ajar with the key in it. She through her room to her bathroom and sank down the door until she was sitting, her legs bent in front of her.

_Think of something else, focus on something else. You're not going crazy. Look, your shoes, those are nice shoes… _

She was just starting to calm down when she realized that she didn't have _any_ orange ankle strap high heels. Slowly picking herself up, she turned to her full sized mirror, and gaped. There before her stood the most ridiculous outfit she had ever seen.

With _her_ in it.

_Oh my gosh, it's Sailor V! Wait, no, that's me. I'm Sailor V? Wait what? No that's crazy. I am seriously losing my mind._

But the figure in the mirror was indeed her, and she brought her hand up to touch her reflection. She had on an orange eye mask that was rigged on the outer ends. The weirdest dress she had ever scene, concluded of an attached orange skirt, collar, choker, and an orange heart broach with a surrounding blue bow. Not to mention the shoes. A red bow was in her hair, and white gloves ran all the way up to her elbows, where they were fringed in orange. Normally, she would have been thinking, _This is way to much orange, and with a red bow? Seriously who designed this… _

But for now it was just simplified to staring at herself for twenty minutes. When her eyes finally began to grow tired of looking at the same thing continuously, the fabric started to shimmer, and then disappeared off her body all together. She was left in her regular clothes that she had picked out for the day. In the mirror she could see the reflection of her bathroom's clock, and turned around, alarmed.

Eight fifteen already? School started nearly an hour ago_! Well, surely an emergency like this could get me out of school…no! There was no way I'm telling my mom about this. What if I'm just hallucinating? _And after all, it was the first day of school.

Trying to push aside the whole incident as before school jitters (though there was no way she would be able to push it off for long), she dashed out the door, remembering to put the key back in its place. As she ran to school, she remembered that she had left her bags when she had saved that b- no, stumbled into the street. She grabbed them quickly, fairly surprised that they were where she had left them. Then out of the corner of her eye, she spotted something in the road. _The magazine_.

After having a mini debate inside her head, she decided she couldn't leave it there as litter, and stuffed it in her book bag.

After getting a note from the attendance office, she made her way to her first hour class. Since she was a sophomore and the school was relatively small, she found her class fairly easily where she slipped in to find an empty classroom. Behind her she hear footsteps down the hall, and the class came walking into the room, most of the kids not even discerning her presence since they were talking vigorously about their summer breaks amongst themselves. She spotted a few of them with the same book and came to the conclusion that they had just picked up their English textbooks from the library.

Everyone made their way to their seats, and gradually began to notice her. Last of all, the teacher came in. Luckily she had had this teacher before and he recognized her.

"Miss Riley, I didn't know you were in my class this year," he said, bemused.

"I…sorry Mr. Bentley, I- er- went to the wrong class."

"Ahh, typical Mina. There's a spot over there next to Mr. Thomas. I will excuse your tardiness for the first day, _even_ if you were an hour late," he grinned and winked at her.

Relieved that she had an awesome teacher, she went to sit down by Harrison- or "Hawk" as everybody had called him last year. He was one of triplets. His brother and sister had strange nick names as well- Katrina was called "the Tiger" and Felix was nicknamed "Fish" for his natural swimming ability. He had made varsity his freshman year, and his was the only epithet that made sense to her.

"Ok everybody, turn to the foreword on page one…" Mr. Bentley droned on.

"Miss Riley, Miss Riley," jerking her head, she looked up, "You might need a book to read with us today," said her teacher, which earned a snicker from the rest of the class.

"Uh, oh yeah," she stammered and made her way back to the front of the classroom.

"The Scarlet Letter," he informed her and she nodded, heading out the door to the school library.

Man, today was going to be one of those days…

**_So, chapter dois, completed. Not as long as the first, but it introduces the first Sailor Scout in the story. I already have a plan for the rest of the story so I should update every few days…but we shall see. If you feel like giving a review to let me know how I'm doing so far…please and thank you! _****_J_**


	3. Rei zor

_Chapter 3_

Rei looked up as someone sat in front of her- more out of compulsion than actual curiosity. She blinked in surprise as an obnoxious red bow hindered her view of the rest of a blond blob. _That's a lot of hair_, she thought as the simultaneous reiterated word _Americans _passed through her mind sarcastically for what seemed like the hundredth time that morning. Sure, her mom was American as well, but Rei had yet to see the same class that her mom manifested.

Sighing, she swept her glossy raven-black hair behind one shoulder. Well, if there was one thing good about America, it was that she could even wear her hair down in school. For what little time she had spent in her Japanese private academy years ago, she had had to keep it up all the time due to the strict rules they had. But that had been before her mom decided to pull her out of school to help with her grandfather's shrine while being taught by her mother herself- which is where she acquired her American accent. Although she spoke Japanese fluently, she had spent most of her elementary and middle school life around her mom, who was indeed, American.

_ These _baka'_s don't even know how prestigious my family is. It's demeaning really, having to sit here with a bunch of singular language speaking, uncultured students, who have no recognition of _class_._

She had liked her life before- minding her grandfather's shrine, meditating, finding self contentment in the energy around her. But her father just had to go get a promotion to some unknown science facility in the states, dragging Rei with him. Her mother was coming in about a month, but first had to take care of some effects of her grandfather's shrine. He would be coming to live with them too, since he was now considered unable to live on his own.

All these thoughts swirled through her head as she struggled to focus on the text before her. _The Scarlet Letter. _She had already read this book back during her middle school years, and had found it quite uninteresting then as well. And the fact that the boy sitting next to her (Chad- as she had learned through the bothersome 'get to know you games' during the first half hour of class) kept looking in her direction did not help at all_. Creep, _she thought to herself.

"Are you okay?" He said suddenly, startling her.

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"You sighed."

"I was just breathing. Am I not allowed to breathe?"

Chad shrugged and muttered, "Just asking," before turning back to his book and glancing at her every so often like before.

What kind of name was 'Chad' anyway? All of these American names were dull, and had no meaning behind them- even in their own language. Hers at least had a positive connotation- 'Rei'- like, a ray of sunshine, or light, or-

The bell rang, signaling it was time to move on to the next dry class of the morning. Putting her books in her book-bag ( or backpack, as they called them here- 'backpack'? Sounded so…), Rei sighed again.

"There!" Said Chad again, flipping his brown hair out of his eyes, "You just sighed again!"

She gave him a look as if to say "Get a life" and walked out the door and into the hallway. It smelled like old wood and a mixture of perfumes, cologne, and Body Oder. Most unpleasant. She held her breath and squeezed into the moving mass of bodies, counting door numbers as the tide around her shifted on. Finding her classroom, she struggled to the outer rim of the hallway and stumbled into the classroom. Unfortunately, her momentum was stunted by a black-clad back, and an 'oof' as the person she had ran into was pushed forward.

Standing up straight brushing back her hair, she began to apologize out of obligation.

"I am sorry, I was unable to stop myself from…" she trailed when he turned around and she caught sight of him for the first time. If there was another good thing about America, it was their good-looking males.

He had black hair, reminding her of the boys back home, and ocean blue eyes reminiscing of the waters close to her home. His features were perfectly symmetrical, and he stood about half a foot taller than her, athletically built…_he_ was definitely _not_ a baka.

A boy next to him elbowed him in the stomach lightly and spoke up, "She was just unable to stop herself from… _falling for you_," which earned guffaws from the rest of the boys surrounding him. Rei felt her face go red. _What? Why am I embarrassed? I don't care what any of these baka's think._

"Don't mind Kyle," said the guy she had ran into, "He just wishes he was the one that got bumped into by a beautiful maiden," and he grinned at her_. Perfect teeth._

"I'm Darien Shields," he said, "What's your name?"

Rei hesitated for a moment before answering, "Rei Tomoe."

"Tomoe. Is that Japanese by chance?"

"Yes it is," Rei replied, mildly surprised. She wondered how he differentiated it from other Asian cultures.

"That's cool, my Uncle is Japanese."

"Man, you are so _boring_ dude," said Kyle, "Like chicks wanna talk about lame stuff like that."

"_Culture_ is not lame," Rei said pointedly, "but I can see how you wouldn't want to discuss it, as shown by your obvious lack of it yourself," she raked her view to his shoes and back up.

"Ohhhhhhh," said the guys around them, laughing.

"Major burn."

"This chick is on fire."

Kyle's face turned slightly red as he contained his embarrassment and leaned in close to her.

"Hey," he said in mock whisper, "My friends think you're hot." Earning more laughs from the group.

"Guys, guys, you're creeping her out," said Darien, while grinning himself. He turned to her, "I know, these dudes are idiots. So-"

He was cut off as Rei was pushed from behind into him. He caught her before she fell over, and they both turned to see who had done it this time.

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" Said a blond girl, with a sad excuse for _odango's_ on her head.

"Man, you sure are clumsy today," said a tall girl with a wavy brown ponty tail behind her. They both laughed and started to walk past Rei to sit down.

Rei realized she was still in Darien's arms and pushed off of him. This accidently bumped her into the blonde girl walking by, who was pressed into the desk next to her from the impact. She cried out as her hip was jarred unintentionally, and turned back to Rei.

"It was an accident, I didn't mean to run into you," said the blonde girl as her friend reached out to help her, "You didn't have to push me."

Darien spoke up from behind Rei, "Hey, she didn't mean to either."

The blonde girl turned her gaze to him, and recognition flashed in her eyes.

"You're the guy from the mall!"

"You're that meatball head who crashed into me!"

"I'm not a meatball head!" She persisted, and Rei realized that the girl's hair did indeed look like meatballs.

"Hey that's a good name," said Rei, cutting in, "After all, they do look like meatballs."

The girl turned back to glare at her, and Darien said, "See what I mean? A klutz like you obviously needs a penalty for going around running into people all the time. Meatball head is a perfect name."

"You guys are all jerks!" She said, as Rei thought _another baka._

"Come on Serena, let's just go sit down," said the brown haired girl. Serena nodded and turned on her heel.

"You're right Lita, these guys aren't worth our time."

Despite her previous words, Lita hesitated, and Rei noticed her lock eyes with Kyle before following after Serena.

Darien turned to Rei and rolled his eyes, "Some people at this school are _special_," he said, and winked at her, "C'mon, let's go sit down guys."

The guys headed off to a back corner of the classroom, and Rei stood there unsure of where to sit.

"Hey! Why not sit with us hott stuff?" Kyle yelled. Darien punched him in the arm before nodding at her and waving her over with his hand. Rei walked over and sat down in the seat next to him. He grinned at her and she gave him an uninterested look.

But she was interested. _Very_ interested.


	4. Yummy

_Chapter 4_

Serena looked around the cafeteria and exhaled noisily. Students were bustling around the lunch tables, but she couldn't see Molly anywhere. She stood there awkwardly holding her lunch tray, and wondered where she should sit.

_Ugh this is so awkward. I don't know where Molly is and I don't know any of these people. _

This day definitely wasn't her best day. She had already woken up late this morning- on the _first day of school , _tripped and ran into some popular sophomores, and interacted with that jerk from the mall again.

Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, she spotted someone. Serena recognized her math tutor from last year- _Amy Anderson. _

Amy had a brown paper bag lunch and was walking quickly to the cafeteria exit. Serena walked toward her as fast as she could without knocking over her juice box on her lunch tray.

"Hey Amy!" Serena called out when she was a few feet away. She hadn't known Amy very well in middle school, but she did know that she was smart- from tutoring- and nice.

Amy turned around, "Yes? Oh Serena it's you. Hello."

"Yeah," Serena said, "So where you heading off to? Did you finish your lunch already?"

"Oh, no. I just don't really know anybody here, so I thought I would just go to the library."

"Hey! What a coincidence! I don't know any of these people either, except like, a few weirdo's from middle school."

Amy nodded. "So…" Serena continued, "Do you want to sit together then?"

"Umm…"

"Oh yeah that's right! You just said you were going to the library-"

"No," Amy interrupted, "I mean, yes, we should sit somewhere."

"Sweet!" said Serena, relieved. She looked around. All the cafeteria tables were mostly filled, but Serena had a better idea.

"Ahah! Outside! Hey wanna sit outside Amy? It's still nice out and there aren't as much people there."

"Oh, well, sure," Amy replied, following Serena as she started skipping to the doors that led to the courtyard. Apparently she had forgotten that she was carrying a lunch tray, so inadvertently her apple fell of the tray and onto the floor.

"Ahh dang," said Serena, "Well, I didn't like apples anyways." She tossed the apple towards a nearby garbage can and kept walking. Unfortunately, she over-tossed it, and Amy winced as it hit an unlucky boy in the side of the head.

"Ahh! What the heck?!" He yelped, and his friends around him at the lunch table laughed and pointed out the randomness of the event. The boy turned around and locked eyes with Amy. She knew she would just sound stupid if she tried to explain what had happened, so she gave a weak smile and said,

"Oh, sorry about that. Bad aim."

The boys' eyes suddenly brightened, "Wait a second, is your name Amy Anderson?"

"Y-yes," _How did he know that?_

"Cool, I saw your picture up on the board in math class this morning. You were awarded first place in the regional math championships for middle school right?"

She nodded, now understanding his recognition. She was usually good with faces, so it would have been embarrassing if she hadn't remembered his name.

"I'm Greg," he said, holding out his hand. She cautiously shook it and stepped back to her original place.

"I'm on Mathletes too- although I didn't make it to regionals," he said sheepishly, and then ran a hand through his hair.

"Oh, well it's nice to meet you Gre-"

"Amyyyyyyyyy!" A shrill voice called out. Serena.

Serena spotted her and ran back over, her lunch tray gone.

"What happened Amy? One minute I was talking to you and then I set my lunch tray down and turned around and you were gone." Serena then notice the boy watching them.

"Who's this? Do you know this guy?"

"This is Greg. He just introduced himself to me. We're both on the same Mathletes team apparently."

Serena nodded, grinning, "Ohhhh, another smarty pants," Serena said and turned to Greg again, "Well, nice to meet you Craig. Hey Amy let's go eat! I'm starving."

Amy was about to correct her on the name, but Serena had grabbed her arm and was pulling her towards the courtyard doors. Amy looked back at Greg who was watching them, amusement clear on his face. She gave him an apologetic smile and he nodded, turning back to his friends.

Serena was already talking when they sat down. Amy's mind was still on that boy. _Greg_.

"…so I was just like, man what a cool girl, and then they all backed down cause she was real intimidating. And THEN I saw this complete jerk-head guy who…"

Amy realized Serena had stopped talking abruptly and recognized that she had been being rude by not listening, and Serena had probably been offended. But when she looked over, Serena was chewing a mouthful of food and looking up at the sky. She hadn't noticed that Amy wasn't even listening.

"Hey, so Amy, what hairstyle is that? I like it."

Amy had her hair down, so she assumed Serena meant the haircut. "It's an A-line, " she answered, self consciously brushing her ebony bangs to the side.

"I could never cut my hair. I haven't actually. I feel like if I cut it any off it's gonna like, turn brown like off of Tangled, and I don't know about you, but I think I would look terrible with brown hair. Although I would match in with my family more…hey now that I think of it, neither my mom or dad have blonde hair, so how did I end up this way? Not that I'm complaining…and my sister has blonde hair too! Although her's is more sandy-"

Serena stood up abruptly, and Amy looked up from her lunch. She followed Serena's gaze and spotted a tall girl with her hair in a pony-tail.

"Hey Lita! Over here!" Serena called, and the girl spotted her and started to jog over.

"Hey Rena!" Lita grinned, "You recovered from that little incident this morning?"

"Ugh…mostly. Thanks again for helping me out."

"No prob," Lita replied, and they both sat down.

Serena spoke, "Amy this is Lita, she saved me from the Popular's wrath this morning."

Lita laughed, "Only cause you were clumsy enough to trip into them!"

"Hey it's not my fault I have a natural ability for being clumsy."

"I take it you are good friends?" Amy assumed.

"Oh no," said Lita, "We just met this morning when she ran into Brandy, who threatened to make-up attack her."

"What? She did not!" Serena laughed. Amy smiled at the two friends. It was amazing how some people could meet and then be immediate best friends like that. Amy had never had a best friend before. Or any close ones, really. Most people just thought she was shy, or intimidating because of her intelligence level. Maybe they thought she was stuck up.

Amy sighed.

Serena looked over at her, smiling, "I bet I can guess what you're thinking about…" she teased. Amy widened her eyes, confused.

"You know…" Serena prodded, "A certain…_Craig_…"

Amy burst out laughing, surprising herself even. "Oh Serena," she said, "His name is Greg, and I wasn't thinking about him."

"Craig. Greg. Same difference. And sureee you weren't."

"Really, I wasn't!"

"So who's this Greg guy?" Asked Lita. Amy explained what had happened. "Yep, that sounds like Serena…unintentionally injuring innocent people-" Serena poked her "- oh, he sounds like a nice guy, didn't even get mad at you. What's he look like? Is he cute?"

Amy furrowed her brow, realizing that she _didn't know_ if he _was_ cute.

"Ummm…" she thought back… "Well…" _The boy turned around and locked eyes with Amy_, "He's got brown eyes with green flecks in them and_-_"_ He ran his hand through his hair_-"and I guess lighter brown hair."

"Mmmmm…sounds yummy," Said Lita, and Amy leaned back, startled at her choice in words.

"What the-!" Serena said, grabbing Lita's lunch out of her hands, "Forget about boys- look at this lunch! Now THAT'S yummy! Can I have some Lita? Pleeeaasse?" Lita laughed and nodded, and Serena dug in without hesitation.

"Serena!" A curiously accented voice yelled. Serena looked over, her mouth full of food. A girl Amy recognized as Serena's friends was heading over, someone behind her. She had strawberry blond hair that curled in short ringlets and was taken partially up into a pony tail, framing her bangs and slender pale face that was dotted with a few freckles across the nose.

"Molly! Where were-" Serena stopped dead, and a few pieces of food fell out of her mouth. Molly was holding hands with a boy who was now walking beside her. He had shorter messy brown hair, and black circular glasses.

"Melviinnnn?!" Serena shrieked, "What in the-? What is this world coming t-" By the time Serena became hysterical, Molly and Melvin had made their way over and Molly had covered Serena's mouth with her hand.

"Hiya Serena, I thought you might be outside. You obviously recognize Melvin." Serena nodded and gulped, speechless. For the majority of middle school, Serena had been convinced he was stalking her. He even confessed a few times and kept asking her if he could tutor her in math. How in the world had he gotten together with Molly?

"He's my new boyfriend," Molly said shyly.

Serena just gaped. And then she closed her mouth. And thought. And gaped again. And then thought some more.

Then she smiled.

"Well, Melvin, you sly dog you. Better not break her heart or I'm gonna have to have my body guard here beat you up." She said, gesturing to Lita.

Melvin looked away from Molly for a moment and said dreamily, "Oh there's no way you have to worry about that. I'm still amazed she's even mine."

"Me too," Serena muttered. She then realized she hadn't introduced Molly properly, and proceeded to tell Lita and Amy how they had been best friends ever since Molly had moved there from Boston in the sixth grade. Then they all exchanged numbers and decided they should hang out sometime.

Soon the conversation was back to normal, with Serena stuffing more of Lita's food in her mouth- apparently Lita was a great cook, as she had made her lunch herself- Molly and Melvin holding hands and being weirdly lovey-dovey, Amy still thinking about Greg, etc… It was a nice friendly group of misfits, all held together by a brand of glue called Serena.

Across the cafeteria sat an elite group of athletes- the girls varsity volleyball team. The team captain, Trista, sat next to her new boyfriend and talked about how tryouts were gonna be that week and how she was excited to meet some new players who loved the game. A certain girl with long blonde hair and a big bow in her hair sat across from her, nodding her head every once and a while, but not really paying attention. Her mind was on something else. A particular chain of events that had happen this morning. Or to be more specific, a heart shaped chain of events.

A few tables over, Rei Tomoe sat next to Darien shields, crowded by all his other friends and girls vying for his attention. Rei took no part in the conversation, except when Darien asked her a direct question. She was counting down the minutes until lunch was over, so that she could have him to herself for the five minutes it took to walk to their next class- which incidentally, they had together.


	5. Making Friends

_Chapter 5_

Mireena had survived the first day of school without any incidents that included arbitrary changing of the clothes. Now all she had to do was make it through volleyball practice, and she was home-free.

Already dressed in her practice shorts and a college souvenir t-shirt, she rolled out the bin of Dixie Dragon volleyballs. Across the gym, two other girls were setting up the net. The rest of the team were still in the bathroom changing and probably talking about Trista's new boyfriend. His name was Andrew Bloom, and apparently it was a big deal for her to go out with him since she was one of the most popular girls in school and he was much lower down on the reputation scale.

"Okay girls, let's start practice," said Trista as she walked into the gym. The two girls jumped down from the stools where they had been adjusting the net and headed over to where Trista had stopped next to Mireena.

"So since tryouts for new teams are this Friday, I thought we could go over some of the exercises we are going to use for them. As you know, all of you are automatically on varsity from last year, but we are still looking for four replacements from last year's graduating seniors, so keep your eye out for girls who have what it takes. Keep in mind that we will also be helping coach select girls for the junior varsity team as well," Trista smiled and continued, "So I need everybody to volunteer for a position in tryouts," she looked down at the clipboard she was holding, "We'll need girls to work on form for bumps and sets, some to test on all-around volleyball terms and knowledge, and then one or two to help gauge on serving ability."

There were about six girls on form and then on volleyball terms, and that left Trista and Mireena on serving. They were, after all, the best servers on the team. Mireena had made varsity cheer her freshman year, thus earning the other girls respect. Trista turned to her.

"Looks like it's you and me," Mireena nodded, "So are you okay today? It seems like you've been kind of out of it."

"Oh, yeah," Mireena replied, "Just some weird stuff this morning- I was late to school."

"I see, well, you think you can still do practice today?"

Mireen grinned, "Of course, it will get my mind off of everything else anyways." Nothing like immersing yourself in physical fitness to forget about the craziness of the world. And it helped that Mireena loved the sport.

Rei smiled as her and Darien made their separate ways down the hallway. He had to stay after school for soccer practice, and she was getting picked up by her mother in a few minutes by the front doors. Despite the day starting out tedious and annoying, it had turned around quickly as soon as she bumped- literally- into Darien shields. Maybe this place wouldn't be so bad after all. She was almost skipping down the hall past the other student at their lockers, when she spotted a colorful flier on the wall. For some reason she found herself interested, and walked over to get a closer look.

_Start out lively with the new school year, test your luck and join in Cheer!_ Rei read to herself. It was a weird motto, but maybe cheerleading would be another hobby to get her into the 'American ways.' Shrugging, still light from being with Darien, she pulled a tab from the bottom of the flier and continued down the hallway to the front door.

"You seem oddly sprightly," her mom said as Rei hopped into the front seat, "Much different from this morning."

"I guess I'm just trying what you said Mama. 'Put on a smile and it'll be worth your while.'" Rei was indeed smiling.

"Well, I'm glad to hear it. We're picking up Hotaru from school, and then your father and I have a surprise for you at home. A settling in gift, if you will. We thought it might help make up for moving you away from Japan so suddenly."

"Really?" Said Rei, eager to know what it was, but not wanting to make it too obvious that she was pleased.

A few minutes later they pulled up in front of Mount Dixie Middle school. Hotaru wasn't in the front, so her mother called her on her cell phone. That was another thing- Rei's parents _had _felt bad about taking their two daughters away from their life in Japan- especially when Hotaru had just made friends. They had gotten both their daughters iphone fives, to try and make up for the sudden change. Although Rei had not attended school like her sister (she had been homeschooled by her mom), she had loved her life there.

Hotaru came out about a minute later, walking with a boy and girl about her age. She saw her mom's car and started to run towards it, turning back to yell, "Bye Hunter! Bye Rini! See you tomorrow!"

Rei saw a small smile on her mother's face, and knew she was glad that Hotaru had made some friends on the first day. Her two friends waved back and started to walk down the sidewalk as the Tomoe family pulled away from the curb.

"Hi Mama, Hi Rei," she said brightly.

"So you had a good day I presume?" Asked her mother knowingly.

"Yeah! When I first got to class I was really scared, but then Rini sat by me and she said she liked my hair so asked if we could be friends. And then her friend Hunter sat in front of her and then all of us were friends and my teacher Mrs. Ferris is really nice and isn't scary at all. Her name is Lilly, you know, like those flowers? And she's really pretty too. Her husband's a firefighter and they got married when they were only eighteen! That's only two years older than Rei! They have a daughter named Diana who's in fourth grade and I haven't met her yet but I bet she's really nice like her mom. Rini and Hunter invited me to go to the park with them on Saturday so do you think I can go Mama?"

Mrs. Tomoe and Rei both had shocked looks on their faces as they glanced at each other. That was the most words they had ever heard Hotaru say at once.

"Well…Hotaru… I guess that would be alright. But are any adults going to be there? I don't think you should go by yourselves."

"Aww Mama…" Hotaru whined, and then seemed thoughtful for a second, "If I get someone to come can I go?"

Mrs. Tomoe gave her approval and Hotaru let out a gleeful, "Yay!"

As they approached their new house on Chester Brook Avenue, Rei was reminded of the surprise her mom had mentioned. They pulled up in front of the house and Rei saw a cute red chevy corvette in the driveway. She thought it was strange for her Papa to get a car so girly, but maybe that was the American way.

"So what do you think?" Her mother asked her.

"I think that car is kind of girly for Papa," Rei voiced her thoughts.

"Maybe that's because that isn't Papa's car," her mom said nonchalantly.

"Is someone at our house?" Rei asked, confused.

"Nope," Her mom said simply, and then waited for the realization to hit Rei. When it didn't, she said, "This is your surprise."

Rei stared.

"No way," she said. "NO WAY!" she reiterated and jumped out of her mom's blue Infiniti Etherea and ran over to the corvette.

"This is mine?" She asked, incredulously. Her mom nodded, smiling.

Rei stared at it and ran her hand over the red exterior. She looked inside the windows and walked around it a few times. Then she paused and walked over to her mom who had gotten out of the car. Rei's fifth grade sister stood next to her and observed the scene before her.

"Mama, I think you're forgetting something. I don't have a driver's license."

Her Mama laughed, "I didn't forget. But I don't think it will take too long for you to get it. You've already driven the gator around a lot at Grandpapa's shrine, you only need a few hours behind the wheel with some instruction and I can sign you off to take the driver's test.

Rei was still stunned, "This is too unreal," then she remembered herself and said, "Thank you Mama, this is the best surprise ever. I love it."

"I'm glad," said her mother. * * *

Rini and Hunter walked home together. They lived across the street from each other, a few blocks away from the school, and had been friends since the first grade when Rini had demanded that he share is magic markers with her. Rini picked up dandelions from the grass on the side of them and handed them to Hunter to hold as she retrieved more. She didn't notice when a silver Hyundai pulled up next to them and a window rolled down.

"Would you two like a ride home?" Said the familiar voice of Mrs. Ferris. She was definitely Rini's favorite teacher so far, and when she saw the shiny car Rini turned to Hunter. He shrugged.

"Thanks Mrs. Ferris! We would love a ride home!" The two opened the door and got into the car, not really thinking 'stranger danger' applied to the situation, since neither of them considered their teacher a stranger.

Lilly Ferris's daughter was in the car on the left side of Rini. She had light brown hair in two pigtails up on her head.

"Rini, Hunter, this is Diana. She's in the fourth grade. She has Mrs. Kelly as her teacher. Did either of you have her last year?"

"Oh yeah," said Rini, "She was evil. Right Hunter?" She looked at him and he nodded.

Mrs. Ferris laughed. "Oh turn right here," said Rini, directing Mrs. Ferris on where to go.

"Do you two live near each other?" She asked.

"Yeah," said Rini, "We live by this park we like to play at. We invited Hotaru to play with us on Saturday and she said she's gonna ask her mom. I think Hotaru's cool, she's from Japan and everything."

"She seems like a nice girl," Mrs. Ferris replied, "What do you guys do at the park?"

"Well we usually play soccer…oh no! Now the teams aren't gonna be even with three of us there."

Mrs. Ferris smiled a little at the naiveté of childhood problems. Then she had an idea. Her daughter Diana was shy and hadn't really made any friends in elementary so far, this seemed like the perfect opportunity.

"Well Diana is free on Saturday, would you like it if she would come play to help make the teams even?"

"Hmm…" Rini thought for a second, "Yeah! That would be fun. And don't worry 'bout all that adult supervision stuff cause my mom always makes my sister come watch us. She's fourteen."

The teacher laughed again, and Rini pointed out a house that was indeed down the street from a park they could see in the distance.

"Hunter lives across the street so you can let us both out here."

"Well I think this is all going to work out well. Diana and I live about two blocks away," Said Mrs. Ferris.

"Really? That's cool. Well I'll see you tomorrow Mrs. Ferris! Thanks for the ride!"

Their teacher watched as the two ran up to their respective houses and scurried inside. She was glad she had such good students this year.


	6. Daily Lives of Highschool Girls Part 1

_Chapter 6_

Serena heard a distinct voice, harsh against her bedroom door. It clashed maddeningly with an annoying beeping noise next to her bed.

"Ughnnn," she groaned, pulling her head under her pillow. She heard her door open and someone began to jump on the bed.

"Sereeeenaaaaa," said the annoying voice, "Mom told me to wake you up since you weren't responding when she called. Something about being late for school again."

Serena shot up out of bed, "Ohmygoshwhattimeisit?"

"There's a clock right next to your bed dummy."

Serena glanced at the clock on her night stand and jumped off her bed-and thus scattering a few Carebears- while simultaneously pushing Rini out the door. It was already 7:14 and she only had five minutes to get ready before she had to run all the way to school and narrowly miss being tardy. _Again._

She grabbed a pair of jeans she had found when her and Molly went school shopping that had yet to be worn. Throwing on a plain t-shirt, she grabbed a jacket and unplugged her phone from her charger. In the bathroom she put some deodorant on under her shirt and pulled her hair up into its now signature style. She brushed her teeth and ran downstairs where her backpack was waiting. Scooping it up, she darted to the front door, grabbing a jacket on her way out.

"Bye Sere-" Her mom's farewell was cut off by the door slamming behind Serena as she ran down the steps and began her dash to school, four blocks away. She check the time, pulling her razr Motorola out of her pocket. 7:20. Just enough time.

As expected, Serena made it into her homeroom seat seconds before the bell rang, breathless and regretting not grabbing something to eat on her way out. Next to her, Cierra Dallin gave her a quizzical look, and then reached over to fix one of the buns on Serena's head.

"Thanks," she said sheepishly.

"No problem," said Cierra. Vanessa Haroldson sat behind her chewing some mint flavored gum and smirked. They were two of the four new freshmen that everyone was so interested in. Granted, all the freshman were new, but it had only taken one day for everyone to notice how different the four girls were from the rest of the freshman class. The other two in the group were Peoni Abercromie and June Paprits. Apparently the four of them were related one way or another and had moved there with their respective families from Australia. Story was, they were all part of a family performance group that had migrated to the states when they became too famous locally to go out in public. But gossip had a way of being altered once it went through the social gab system.

Cierra was the most mature out of them, and had long auburn hair in a detailed bun. Vanessa was the least amiable out of the four, and had scarlet red hair in a high ponytail. Peoni was somewhat childlike in her own way, sporting a small pale bun on top of her head and pointing out the obvious whenever the teacher talked. June was probably the least distinguishable one of them, and had yet to show her personality, but Serena had a feeling that she was not the quiet girl she put off to be. She had dark caramel colored hair that she wore in a side ponytail, and her outfits were echo's of something you might see in a biker gang.

All in all, Serena was deeply curious about the group. They called themselves the Four Amazons, for reasons unbeknownst to the student body- although it most likely had to do with their affiliation with the performance group they had been part of.

It was the third day of school, a Friday and the day that the flier had said there would be cheer leading tryouts. Rei had dressed especially for today so that she wouldn't have to bring clothes to change into after school. Beneath her desk, she pressed send on a message to Darien. They had been texting almost non-stop since he had gotten her number yesterday, and her thumbs flew across the touch screens' keyboard while she made sure the teacher wasn't looking. She gave a slight giggle at his recent message, and Chad tried to peer over the isle to see what was so funny. She leaned away from him and gave him a glare, which made him back off for the time being.

When she giggled again a few minutes later, Chad murmured to her out of the side of his mouth, "Well _someone's_ in a good mood today."

"Seriously, mind your own-" Rei was cut off as her phone was wrenched from her hands.

"Tsk tsk," Said with a slight grin on his face, "Texting in class on the third day?"

Rei looked down at her desk, gritting her teeth. Now she wouldn't be able to answer Darien's question. She expected Mr. Bentley to keep her phone and inform her to pick it up when class was over- as her other teachers had done with previous students- but was horrified when he pushed the menu button and started to scroll through.

"What are you doing? Hey, that's my phone, you can't do that!" Rei protested.

"And you are not allowed to text in class. We have a tradition in this class. Can anyone tell me what it is?" He questioned the class.

The blonde girl in front of her with the obnoxious red bow raised her hand.

"Yes, Miss Riley?" He said, calling on her.

"If anyone is caught passing notes, texting, facebook, or any type of social media during the allotted class time, the student's personal messaging will be read to the class until the abiding teacher see's the offense as justified."

"You have lots of experience with this, don't you Miss Riley?" The girl blushed and shrugged her shoulders, implying that she had had to learn the rule the hard way.

"That is not fair!" Rei cried, flustered, "Those messages are personal!"

Mr. Bentley merely gave her another grin and replied, "Interrupting my class-time with your _personal _messages, hurts my _personal _feelings. And if you have not figured it out by now, you will soon learn that life isn't fair. Now, let's see what this…" He paused for a moment, scrolling down on her phone, "This Mr_. Darien Shields_ has to say that's so important."

Rei sat there, mortified, as her teacher began reading the texts out loud, starting from that morning:

"'_Hey,'_ Says Darien Shields at seven oh' three.

'_Hey, '_

'_How's your morning?'_

'_It's okay…how's yours?'_

'_Well mines good now.'_

'_Oh, how come?'_

'_Textin' you ;) '_

'_Haha I'm sure. Just got to school- where are you?'_

'_Locker'_

Darien Shields at seven fifty seven- '_How's Am. Lit?'_

'_It's okay, but I've read Scarlett Letter already so kind of boring'_

'_Yeah I'm in Mr. Hersher's. Math sucks in the morning'_

'_I bet, haha.'_

'_So I have a question for you'_

'…_Okay…should I be scared? Haha'_

'_I hope not, haha. I was just wondering if you wanted to go to Homecoming?' "_

Unfortunately for Rei, that was exactly the question she had been about to answer when her phone got taken away. And read to then entire class. Everybody around her guffawed and there were a few wolf whistles while she sat fuming in her seat.

"So," said Mr. Bentley, still grinning, "How shall we answer to that?"

"Uh oh," said a few people melodramatically, while the rest of the class continued to laugh. Mr. Bentley turned back to Rei and slipped her phone into his pocket.

"Unfortunately for the class, I'm going to leave it to you to answer him properly-" this was interrupted by groans from the class, "You may pick up your phone after class, and I hope this dissuades you from texting in my class again."

Rei nodded, still shocked by what had just happened. And now she had to wait until the end of class to answer him! _What if he thinks I don't want to go with him? Ugh I hate this school. Isn't it against some rule to do that?_

Rei hardly paid attention the rest of class until the bell rang. She walked up to Mr. Bentley's desk and stood there for a moment while he finished correcting a paper. When he looked up, she stared at him expectantly.

"What can I help you with?" He asked, feigning obliviousness.

"My phone," she said curtly.

"What about your phone?"

Rei gritted her teeth, "May I have my phone back please, _sir_?"

chuckled at her sarcasm and then reached into a drawer where he had put her phone for the remainder of class. He handed it back to her, and she rushed out the door into the hallway, backpack in tow.

She knew that by the time any text she could send would get to him, she was going to see him anyways, so she shoved her phone in her pocket and tried to come up with something to say to him. She slid into her second hour classroom and saw that he wasn't there yet. And neither were any of his cohorts, she discovered as she looked around. She did, however, spot an annoying blond with _odangos_ talking to that tall brunette girl she had seen her with yesterday.

"Hey Rena, let's sit in the back today. I don't feel like getting spit on by Mr. _Shplis_ter today," said Lita. Rei watched in incredulity as the blond laughed and abided, following Lita to a few seats in the back. Rei made her way over there quickly.

"What are you guys doing?" She asked in a way that said she knew exactly what they were doing, but was suggesting they didn't.

"Were just sitting down," said Serena.

"Those are our seats," replied Rei tersely.

"'Our' meaning…?"

"Well Darien and his friends and I of course."

"Really? I don't see them around anywhere, and it's not like we have a seating chart anyways. We can sit where we want."

"Yeah but we've been sitting here since school started."

"So three days huh? That doesn't mean you own these seats."

"Can't you just sit somewhere el-"

Rei was cut off by the teacher, "Miss Tomoe, would you please take a seat? The bell has rung so class is starting," except it came out sounding more like, 'Mish Tomoe, would you pleashe take a sheat? The bell hash rung sho clash ish starting.'

Rei glanced around and was surprised to see that while she was arguing with the blond dimwit, the rest of the students had filed in- well, all of them except Darien and his friends. She mentally growled and took a seat in the second row.

After about ten minutes, a group of rowdy boys came in through the open doorway.

"Well, nishe of you to show up for clash," said Mr. Schpinster, before shaking his head and turning back to the board where he was writing a list of cultural varieties in comparison to the U.S.

Most of the empty seats were near the front, so Kyle and two other of Darien's friends grinned at Rei sat around where she was seated.

"Dude, guys," Darien said, and his friends realized their mistake as they looked around and saw that there weren't any more open seats in the area they had sat down- by Rei. One of the boys started to get up to give his seat up for Darien, but Mr. Schpinster had turned around.

"Now , there'sh a perfectly open sheat in the back neksht to Mish Thompshon," he said, pointing towards where Serena was sitting. Indeed, the only open seat was next to her, and Serena openly grimaced while Darien did the same after giving a reluctant smile to Rei. He walked over to the back and slid into the corner seat, barely glancing at the pig-tail haired girl.

Serena, meanwhile, was doing her best to not glower at him as he sat next to her. It was about halfway through class when she felt an unbearable itch on the bottom of her foot. She glanced at Darien and saw that he was zoned out staring towards the front of the classroom. Good. She didn't need him to gain any more ammo against her. Turning to the side, she untied her shoe and slipped it off her foot, a relieved look enveloping her features when she alleviated the itchy spot. She then slipped her foot back in and preceded to re-tie her sneaker. Out of the corner of her eye she spotted him looking at her. He smirked at her and leaned so his face was close to hers.

"Having trouble?" He whispered.

His sudden nearness surprised her and quickly sat up straight, abandoning the half tied shoe laces. Unfortunately, her momentum made the desk scrap against the ground, drawing the attention of the half-zombified class. She glared at Darien as he laughed to himself and then gave a sheepish smile to the rest of the class. Her eyes met Rei's and she got the same look from the dark haired girl as she had been giving Darien a few moments earlier.

Darien couldn't wait until class ended. Here he had to sit by Serena Thompson- Meatball head, of all people- when his surprise for Rei waited just outside. To make it worse, he could see Rei and his friends talking up in the front of the class, repeatedly getting shushed by the teacher.

"I've deshided to make a sheating chart," Darien's eyes shot to Mr. Schpinster and the students around him groaned and started to protest.

"Shinshe you've been unable to prove that you can be quiet, I have no other choishe. The new sheating arrangement will be up on the projector screen on Monday.

There were more protests and Darien heard Serena next to him mutter something to Lita, "Of course they have to ruin it for the rest of us," and he knew she was referring to his friends up front. Well, at least he wouldn't have to worry about accidently ending up next to Meatball Brains again if there was a seating chart. Unless he had the worst luck in the universe.


End file.
